According to “bioSTATus – Year-End 2016,” a research report from Transwestern, greater Boston’s 20 million square foot laboratory real estate market closed 2016 with 5.9 percent availability. The number is slightly higher from the mid-year report which had the vacancy rate at 4.7 percent. During 2016 the Boston market, which has 6.4 million sqf of lab space, had 262,000 square feet of “take-up,” the seventh consecutive year of positive take-up. The City of Boston’s laboratory market is 4.1 million square feet, with 2.5 percent availability, while the surrounding suburban market offers 5.5 million sqf and 11.3 percent availability.
“It’s great to see the laboratory market continuing its long streak of positive results, though there is a related consequence of certain areas being significantly space-constrained,” said Chase Bourdelaise, Northeast director of research. “It’s notable that we have had very tight market conditions for an extended period of time, even as new space is being added to the inventory each year.”
